“Natural” cultural districts and neighborhood revitalization Mark J. Stern Professor of Social Welfare and History University of Pennsylvania June 2009.

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Presentation on theme: "“Natural” cultural districts and neighborhood revitalization Mark J. Stern Professor of Social Welfare and History University of Pennsylvania June 2009."— Presentation transcript:

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“Natural” cultural districts and neighborhood revitalization Mark J. Stern Professor of Social Welfare and History University of Pennsylvania June 2009

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Inequality is the defining feature of contemporary society  Canada and the US have both experienced rapid increases in income inequality  Many accusations of how creativity accelerates inequality:  Creative economy leads to gentrification and displacement  Attracting “creative class” leads to urban policy that disadvantages the “less creative ” Gini coefficient, working age population Source: OECD

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Misunderstanding creativity  Not simply the work of a few geniuses: the truly creative  Product of social organization: “Works of art are not the products of individual makers, ‘artists’ who possess a rare and special gift. They are, rather, joint products of all the people who cooperate via an art world’s characteristic conventions to bring works like that into existence. Artists are a small subgroup of the world’s participants who, by common agreement, possess a special gift, therefore make a unique and indispensable contribution to the work, and thereby make it art. (Becker 1982). We need a policy approach that understands how deeply creativity is embedded in urban social structure, especially the importance of diversity (economic, ethnic, household). Then we can come up with strategies that create a creative society, not just a creative economy.

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Major points  Understand cultural sector as an ecosystem that is central to the “architecture of community”  Cultural engagement has a strong association with neighborhood development.  Social networks are the link between cultural engagement and neighborhood economic vitality.

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The cultural ecosystem and the architecture of community The creative sector makes critical contributions to the four dimensions of the “architecture of community”  Social capital—ties between community members  Public assets—investments in place- making  Market relations—generating investment and business activity  Flows of information, capital, and people between places—bridging divides that isolate distressed neighborhoods Nowak, J. 2008. Creativity and neighborhood development. Philadelphia: The Reinvestment Fund.

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Public assets: Cultural assets are concentrated in neighborhoods across the region in what we call “natural” cultural districts.

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From correlation to causation?  Past research examined statistical correlation between cultural assets and changes in neighborhood well- being  Our time series is long enough now to examine how cultural assets at point A (actually 1997) are associated with later changes in neighborhood.  Not yet causation (sorry!), but if there is a causal relationship, we know which way it flows.

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Social capital: building community capacity  The arts and culture are one way that neighbors build connections.  Cultural participants are more likely to be involved in other community activities and to share a positive view of their neighborhood.  Ultimately these connections become an asset that the community can use to address common challenges  “Collective efficacy”—this increased willingness of neighbors to address their problems—has been an effective force in addressing violence, truancy, delinquency, and other social problems

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Translating cultural assets into economic assets: “natural” cultural districts have driven improved housing markets. According to The Reinvestment Fund’s Market Value Analysis, city neighborhoods with high levels of cultural assets were much more likely to experience significant improvements in their housing markets between 2001 and 2003.

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“Natural” cultural districts must be cultivated  Every neighborhood can be a cultural cluster: the spillover effects of cultural and other forms of civic engagement justify investment in civic infrastructure  Neighborhoods with the right set of cultural and other assets can be encouraged through:  Improving quality and reliability of city services  Providing targeted investment funds for projects that show promise Two sets of strategies: